Geography

Colchester is located on the shore of Malletts Bay, part of Lake Champlain. The westernmost part of the town touches the
New York state border in the middle of the lake. To the northwest across the eastern arm of the lake lies the town of
South Hero in
Grand Isle County, Vermont. Chittenden County communities bordering Colchester are
Milton to the northeast,
Westford touching the easternmost point of Colchester,
Essex to the southeast, and the cities of
South Burlington,
Winooski, and
Burlington to the south.

According to the
United States Census Bureau, Colchester has a total area of 58.6 square miles (151.7 km2), of which 36.3 square miles (94.1 km2) is land and 22.2 square miles (57.6 km2), or 38.0%, is water.[3]

History

About 2,000 years ago, during the
Early Woodland period, pre-Columbian natives lived in the area.[5] Chartered June 7, 1763,[6] the town was named for the Earl of Colchester.[7]

Winooski Falls separated from the town of Colchester in 1922, causing Colchester to lose a large percentage of its population to the newly founded city of
Winooski.[8]

There were 6,144 households out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.2% were
married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.9% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the town, the population was spread out with 22.6% under the age of 18, 16.2% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males.

Economy

One measure of economic activity is retail sales. Colchester was fourth in the state in 2007 with $245.8 million.[11] Major employers in the town include the VNA of Chittenden & Grand Isle Counties, Saint Michael's College, Costco Wholesale Corporation, Green Mountain Power, Shaw's Supermarket, and Champlain Cable Corporation.[12]

In 2015, the town of Colchester made Fortune Magazine's list of "100 Best Places to Live" (ranked #100), along with Launch a Business and Money Magazine's list of "50 Best Places to Live" (ranked #40).[13]

Personal income

In 2014, the median household income for Colchester was $68,440; the per capita income was $30,877. Males had a median income of $38,268 versus $30,880 for females. About 5.4% of families, 8.2% of those under age 18, and 9.7% of those age 65 or over (total of 10.6% of the population) were below the
poverty line. In 2011, the median home value was $246,269.[14]

Tourism

There has been an annual "Lake Champlain International Father's Day Fishing Derby" (LCI) since 1981. In 2009, 6,000 fishermen entered.[15]

The lakeshore areas of Colchester get an influx of vacationers every summer from southern New England and the
New York City area. Traffic, especially around the Fourth of July holiday, increases by a substantial margin.

Government

Public safety

In 2008, property crimes increased by 36.9%. Overall, the number of crimes rose 28.9% to 1,486 incidents.[16]

Transportation

Interstate 89 passes through the area, with exits 16 and 17 serving Colchester. Exit 16 connects to the concurrency of US Routes 2 and 7 (Roosevelt Highway), just north of Winooski. Exit 17 connects to US 2, which goes west to the Champlain Islands, and also to US 7, which heads north toward the town of Milton.[17]

The Colchester School District underwent a teacher strike in October 2005. The strike began over pay increases but quickly escalated to include many other aspects of the system. The strike ended on October 23, 2005, with an agreement on pay between teachers and board, and school re-opened on Monday the 24th. Negotiations took place for around five hours on October 18, 2005, but resulted in no settlement, and again on the 23rd, resulting in the conclusion to the strike.